Wheel guard for railway cars



Jim'. 4, 1927.

- j 1,612,944 R. B. RlcHARDsoN` v WHEEL GUARD FOR RAILWAY `CARS FiledJune l1, 1926 Patented Jan. 4, 1927.

NETE STATES RAYMOND B. RICHARDSON, 0F' CAPE CHARLES, VIRGINIA.

WHEEL GUARD FOR RAILW'AY- CARS. v

Application led June 11, 1926. vSerial No. 115,251.

This invention relates to an improvement in wheel guards for railwaycars and has for its primary object to provide a guard construction thatmay be readily associated with railway cars now in use, for protectingthe railway workmen from being caught beneath the wheels of the cars,which is a danger always present when the wheels are not provided withguarding devices.

The invention iurther aims to provide a guard that will positivelyprevent the accidental insertion of the hands or feet between the carwheels and track rails for thus overcoming any liability ot a workmanbecoming injured.

Other objects will become apparent as the nature of the invention isbetter understood, the same comprising the novel form, combination, andarrangement of parts hereinatter more fully described, shown in theaccompanying drawing and claimed.

In the drawing wherein like reference characters indicate correspondingparts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a railway car equipped withmy novel wheel guard.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken substantially upon the line 2-2of Figure 1 and looking'downwardly in the direction of the arrows, and

igure 3 is an end elevation of the wheel guard when associated with therailway car.

Now having particular reference to the drawing the car is indicatedtragmentarily by the reference character A, while the wheels of theusual truck at one side of the car are designated B-B In carrying out myinvention7 I provide a pair of relatively elongated hinge knuckles 5 5that are bolted or otherwise suitably secured to the under side of thecar .in predetermined longitudinal relation and outwardly of the truckwheels BB as disclosed in Figure 1. Hingedly secured to these knuckles5-5 is an outer side guard plate 6 of metal or other suitable rigidmaterial, said plate being formed at its upper edge with spaced knuckles7 tor registry with the knuckles 55 upon the car to all ot which isarranged apivot bar 8. rIhis guard plate 6 is of such a length as toextend somewhat beyond the wheels B-B ot the truck and at its lower edgeslightly beneath the tread of the rail C.

At the opposite'V ends of the outer side `guard plate 6 I provide endguards 9*-9 at direct right angles to the guard plate 6 as clearlydisclosed in Figure 2. These end guard plates are constructed of threesections as shown in Figure 3, the upper ends of which are constructedfor complementary association with hinge knuckles 10 arranged upon theunder side ot the car A outwardly oi the truck wheels B#B so as topermit the pivotal mounting of the end plates upon the under side of thecar.

The center sections ot the end guards terminate slightly above the treadof the rail C while the outer sections extend slightly therebeneath to apoint flush with the lower edge of the side guard plate 6.

The outer sections of the end guards are connected at their inner sidesby one or more cross bars 10 that also serve as a means for limiting theinner swinging movement of the center sections,v and the consequentengageentB of the same with the truck wheels The opposite vertical edgesof the outer guard plate 6 are flanged inwardly as at 6--6 in orderthatthe end guards may be rigidly bolted thereto for preventing theswinging of the same upon their pivots. However, access may be had tothe wheels so as to permit a skate to be positioned thereunder and alsoto permit of the proper gaging of the wheels without necessitating theentire raising of the end panel.

A suitable latching means 13 is provided between the center section ofthe end guards and one of the stationary sections to prevent theaccidental outward swinging of the central sections when the car istraveling over the track way.

The outer guard plate 6 is formed at pre- I determined points thereonwith openings 14e-14 to permit the usual truck journal boxes to extendtherethrough while preferably, though not necessarily, said side guardplate is formed throughout its length with openings 15 for purpose oflightness.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a highly novel, simple, andetiicient wheel guard construction for railway cars that'is well adaptedfor all the purposes heretofore designated, and even though I haveherein shown and described the same as consisting yoi certain detailstructural elements, it is nevertheless to be understood that minorchanges may be rnade without affecting the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is 1. In a wheel guardfor railway cai-stra plate hingedly secured at its upper edge to theunder side of the car outwardly ot the truck wheels and extending belowsaid wheels, said plate 'being forined with openings to permit the truckjournal bones to project through the plates, and guard plates ingedlysecured to the under side ot the ear body at the opposite ends of saidside plates and at right angles thereto.

2. In a wheel guard for railway cars, a plate hingedly secured at itsupper edge to the-under ,side of the ear outwardly of the truck wheels,and extending below said wheels, said plate' being iorn'ied withopenings to permit the truck journal boites to project through theplates. guard plates hingedly secured to the under side oie the car bodyat t-he opposite ends of said side plates and at right angles thereto,the opposite vertical edges of said side plate being flanged inwardly topermit of the attachment of the end guard plates thereto.

8. In a wheel guard for railway cars, a plate hingedly secured at itsupper edge to the under side of the car outwardly 'of the truck wheels,and extending below said wheels. said plate being formed with openingsto permit the truck journal boxes to project through the plates, guardplates hingedly secured to the under side ot the car body at theopposite ends of said side plates and at right angles thereto7 said endguard plates Consisting Ot' a central and a pair ot' .sine sections,said 'side sections being interconnected in back of the central section,and a latch arrangement between one of the side sections and the centralsection.

li. In a wheel guard for railway cars, a plate hingedly secured at itsupper edge to the under side of the car outwardly of the truck wheelsand extending below said wheels, and end guard plates hiiigedly securedat their upper ends to the underside of the oar body at opposite ends ofsaid 'side guard plates, said end guard plates being rigidly connectedto the 'opposite ends of said side guard plates.

In testimony whereof I atliX iny signature.

e RAYMOND B. Riorraitn'son. Y

